The number of Palestinians banished from the Aqsa Mosque, the Old City or Jerusalem since the start of the current month increased on Friday to about 70 Jerusalemite citizens.

Some of those Palestinians are elderly people from the 1948 occupied lands and Jerusalem, and were given entry bans for 15 days to six months.

According to Quds Press, dozens of Jerusalemite citizens received on Thursday and Friday orders banning their entry to the Aqsa Mosque, the Old City or Jerusalem.

25 young men received orders banning their entry to the Aqsa Mosque for 15 days after they were arrested during raids on their homes at dawn Friday in east Jerusalem neighborhoods. Five others were detained on Thursday, four of them were banished from the Old City for eight to 10 days and one was banned from entering Jerusalem for four days.

The Israeli police claimed these entry ban orders were part of security measures aimed at preventing tension during the season of Jewish holidays.

Some Palestinians from Jerusalem were also placed under house arrest as part of those Israeli measures. Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, preacher of the Aqsa Mosque, warned in his Friday khutba (sermon) of Israeli attempts to decrease the number of Muslim worshipers at the Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish holidays, and urged the Palestinians to intensify their presence at the Islamic holy place.

Thousands of Muslim worshipers performed Friday’s noon prayers at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, in Occupied Jerusalem, despite the tight Israeli restrictions imposed around the city on the first day of the Jewish Passover holiday.

A tight security cordon has been imposed by the Israeli security forces around Jerusalem’s Old City to provide a shield for the fanatic Israelis on the occasion of the Passover.

The Israeli occupation authorities denied dozens of elderly Gazans from reaching the al-Aqsa Mosque via the Beit Hanun crossing. Head of the Supreme Islamic Committee and preacher of the al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, warned of preplanned Israeli attacks on Muslim homes and holy sites with the advent of the Passover.

The preacher called on the Muslim worshipers to maintain peaceful vigil at al-Aqsa and stand on their guard to Israeli sacrilegious schemes. Sabri further warned of Israeli attempts to escalate arbitrary abductions among the Muslim worshipers and impose a new fait accompli on the ground.

He held the Israeli occupation government responsible for the desecration of the sanctity of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque and the provocation of the peaceful Muslim congregation.

An Israeli flag, displayed on a roof of a settlement in East Jerusalem, is seen in front of the dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Israeli authorities suspended visits to Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque for Gazans on Friday due to the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Israeli authorities prevented dozens of Palestinians over the age of 60 from traveling to Jerusalem via the Erez crossing for their weekly Friday worship at Al-Aqsa Mosque, sources at the Palestinian liaison office told Ma'an.

Israeli forces implemented complete closures on crossings in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip for Palestinians on the Jewish holiday. The closure began midnight Thursday and is to be in effect until midnight Saturday.

Only humanitarian, medical, and other exceptional cases would be allowed to cross after obtaining approval from Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

Tightened security measures were also enforced in Jerusalem, with extra police units deployed in public areas and an emphasis on occupied East Jerusalem's Old City. Israeli forces also detained at least 20 Palestinians across east Jerusalem in predawn raids Friday.

The suspension of Al-Aqsa visits for Gazans comes one week after some 200 Palestinians above the age of 60 were permitted to cross out of the besieged coastal enclave for the first time since a one-month freeze on visitation was lifted by Israel.

Israel, following the ceasefire agreement that ended its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip in 2014, began permitting 200 elderly Gazans to worship at the holy site every Friday.

However, Israel froze the agreement on March 16 due to allegations that Palestinians traveling for worship were not returning to the Gaza Strip on the same day of the visit, as the agreement stipulated, posing a “threat to security.”

The ban was lifted last Friday as part of Israel’s “extensive civil policy towards the Gaza Strip,” as long as Palestinians “meet their commitments,” a spokesperson for Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) told Ma’an at the time.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that Friday’s suspension was related to the Passover holiday, and visits are expected to resume the following week.

The majority of the more than 1.8 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are sealed inside the coastal enclave due to a near-decade long military blockade imposed by Israel and upheld by Egypt on the southern border.

Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said in a statement that Israeli police had arrested three right-wing Jewish Israelis on Friday morning for bringing two goats toward the compound's gates as a sacrifice for the Jewish holiday.

Later on Friday afternoon, police arrested four more Jewish Israelis at the holy site's Moroccan Gate who were also on their way to make a sacrifice. All the goats were confiscated, al-Samri said.

"Israeli police are working to allow worshipers of the three religions (Muslims, Christians, and Jews) to practice their religious rituals in Jerusalem and maintain their safety," she said.

Meanwhile, a number of Palestinian worshipers were banned from the holy site following an extensive detention campaign by Israeli forces in occupied East Jerusalem the night before the Jewish holiday.

While one of the Palestinian detainees was transferred into administrative detention, another 55 others were released on the condition that they be banned from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The head of the Jerusalem Detainees Committee, Amjad Abu Asab, said the al-Qishla police center had released 19 Palestinian were were detained early Friday after banning them from entering al-Aqsa for 15 days.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Mahmoud, a lawyer with Palestinian prisoners' rights group Addameer, told Ma'an that an Israeli court released five previously detained youths on the condition that they be banned from the holy site until May 10, in addition to eight days of house arrest.

Mahmoud said five other youths were banned from the mosque for periods ranging from eight to 15 days, bringing the total banned from the mosque to 29.

The security crack-down comes as the Israeli authorities suspended visits to Jerusalem for Gazans and closed all crossing for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, amid tightened security measures for the holiday.

In an attempt to defile the Islamic sanctity of the Aqsa Mosque, some Jewish settlers on Friday started their Passover holiday trying to give ritual animal offerings near the Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem.

Local sources reported that two settlers carrying a goat stopped at al-Qattanin market near the Aqsa Mosque and loudly declared their intent to slaughter it inside the Mosque before policemen apprehended them.

The Israeli police, for their part, stated that three Jews tried to slaughter heads of livestock as ritual offerings during the first day of the Passover near al-Qattanin Gate (one of the Aqsa Mosque's gates).

The police claimed they arrested those Jewish men in order to maintain public order.

Thousands of Israeli occupation soldiers and police were seen deployed across Occupied Jerusalem city to mark the first day of the Jewish Passover holiday, turning the holy city into a military barrack.

Friday April 22 marks the first day of the eight-day Jewish Passover holiday. The Israeli occupation police tightened grip around Occupied Jerusalem to provide a security shield for the hordes of Israeli fanatics as they perform their sacrilegious rituals.

A total of 45 beaches, besides several holy sites and markets, were prepared, at the request of the Israeli Interior Minister, for the influx of Israeli extremists during the Passover.

The Israeli occupation authorities also announced their intents to crack down on Palestinian West Bankers residing or working in 1948 Occupied Palestine. Researcher Raed Fathi warned of the serious repercussions of such a celebration in a city where tension has already reached a peak due to Israeli provocations.

“Over ancient times, nobody would dare call for mass break-ins at Muslims’ the al-Aqsa Mosque or slaughter sacrifices in the site. However over the past couple of weeks, Israel’s alleged temple mount gangs have been inciting for storming al-Aqsa at noontime on Friday and performing sacrilegious rituals near the Maghareba Gate,” Fathi said.

“Such rituals represent a provocation to the sentiments of the Muslim worshipers. The real crux of the matter is that the Israeli occupation wants to impose a religious sovereignty over the Mosque and force a new fait accompli on the ground,” the expert further warned.

The advent of the Jewish Passover culminated in a tight security cordon imposed by the Israeli occupation army on the occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip. The Israeli occupation authorities further ruled for sealing off all military checkpoints for 48 hours starting Friday.

20 arbitrary abductions, bans from al-Aqsa, and interrogations summonses have also been documented since predawn time as part of a preplanned Israeli sweep across the occupied Palestinian territories. An Israeli ban also prevented elderly Palestinians (above 60 years old) living in the Gaza Strip from performing Friday prayers at al-Aqsa.

Jewish temple mount groups have incited their followers to participate in a sacrificial ceremony to be held on Friday, the first day of the Hebrew Passover holiday, at the western wall of the Aqsa Mosque.

The same groups already invited settlers to participate in massive marches to the Aqsa Mosque during the days of the holiday. In a related incident, a horde of Jewish settlers escorted by policemen on Thursday desecrated the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards, which raise the ire of Muslim worshipers there and provoked them into chanting protest slogans.

Local sources also said that a number of settlers left the Aqsa Mosque and then defiled al-Rahma Cemetery at the eastern wall of the Aqsa Mosque, affirming that some of them sat on graves with no respect for the Islamic sanctity of the place.

Jewish groups in cooperation with the Israeli security authorities have finished all preparations for a new season of massive desecration against the Islamic sanctity of al-Buraq Wall (Wailing Wall in Hebrew myths), which is the Aqsa Mosque's western wall.

This season of Jewish defilement against al-Buraq Wall and its plaza has started as the UNESCO confirmed, in a recent resolution, that the Wall and its plaza are solely Islamic holy sites.

Each year, the Jewish desecration of al-Buraq Wall and its precincts reaches its highest levels during the Passover (April) and Sukkot (September-October) holidays, where one day of each holiday is chosen to hold massive ritual rallies at the western wall for the reception of the so-called "priestly blessing".

Tens of thousands of Jews led by scores of senior rabbis participate in the priestly blessing days organized during these two holidays.

The settlers tried to perform Talmudic rituals in the holy shrine in clear provocation to the Palestinian worshipers who started shouting Takbeer in protest against the settlers’ provocative presence in the Islamic holy site.

Women who were denied entry to the compound continued to protest outside al-Silsila Gate raising posters and chanting slogans expressing their right to pray in the compound.

Tensions have been running high in occupied Jerusalem since October 2015 after Israel imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshipers into al-Aqsa Mosque while allowing the settlers’ free access to the compound.

The Mosque is Islam’s third holiest site after Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina.

Head of the Islamic Movement in 1948 Occupied Palestine, Sheikh Raed Salah, warned of dangerous Israeli schemes to Judaize the holy al-Aqsa Mosque.

Talking to the Q-Press Center, Sheikh Salah warned of the swift surge in Israeli schemes against the al-Aqsa Mosque, particularly with the advent of the Jewish Passover holiday.

He spoke out against the campaign launched by the Israeli occupation forces in Occupied Jerusalem and 1948 Occupied Palestine so as to wipe out Muslims’ presence at the al-Aqsa and perpetrate spatio-temporal division.

“A malevolent conspiracy is awaiting al-Aqsa right in the corner,” the activist said. “That’s why I call on the world’s Muslims and Arabs to wake up! Al-Aqsa is in danger! al-Aqsa is crying for help!”

Earlier, on Monday evening, fanatic Israeli rabbis joined a re-enactment of the Passover sacrifices in al-Zaytoun Mount, near al-Aqsa. Passover rituals are expected to kick off Sunday, April 24.

The Jordanian Prime minister Abdullah al-Nsour declared the decision to stop the installing of cameras at the Aqsa Mosque because of Palestinians’ suspicion on the actual aims behind the project.

Nsour explained, in a statement on Monday, that the project is no longer consensual and said that Jordan respects the Palestinian opinions and finally pointed to Jordan’s absolute support for the Palestinians.

Palestinian and Arab institutions as well as activists had previously refused the project and called on Jordan not to install the cameras.

The Jordanian Awqaf ministry embarked last month on installing 55 camera bases and electric cords in order to fix cameras at the plazas of the Aqsa Mosque, according to the Jordanian Minister of Awqaf Hayel Daoud.

An Israeli court issued Monday demolition orders against 11 Palestinian-owned homes and a mosque east of occupied Jerusalem.

Local activist Atallah Mazara’a affirmed that 11 homes belonging to the two families Mazara’a and Jahalin and a local mosque in Jabal al-Baba area are threatened with demolition.

Mazara’a described the court’s demolition order as an illegal precedent that would displace 50 citizens including children. He pointed out that the Israeli civil administration crews handed over 12 orders to stop reconstruction of local facilities since last February.

Such demolition orders came in favor of Israeli settlement expansion in the area, according to Mazara’a. Mazara’a called on local and international human rights institutions to support the steadfastness of the Bedouin community who face systematic forced displacement from their lands as part of the Israeli E1 settlement project.

Settlement construction in E1 would effectively divide the West Bank into two parts and make the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state almost impossible. Israeli E1 settlement project has attracted widespread international condemnation.

The Israeli Magistrate Court in Occupied Jerusalem on Sunday banned four elderly Palestinians from the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, in Occupied Jerusalem, for 15 days.

Lawyer Mufeed al-Haj, from the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), said in a statement the Israeli court sentenced Marwan al-Hashlamon, 60, Anwar al-Qaq, 63, Jamal al-Akawi, 54, and Jamal al-Natsheh, 42, to house confinement for seven days and a five-hundred-shekel fine.

The court also ordered that the four elderly Palestinians sign a bail of 5,000 shekels. The four Palestinians were accused of involvement in an illegal sit-in group.

A few months earlier the Israeli occupation authorities outlawed Muslim sit-ins at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, dubbing anti-occupation vigil illegitimate. 80 Palestinian worshipers, men and women, have been banned from al-Aqsa over recent months, 22 among whom banned since the start of April. Meanwhile, the same Israeli court extended the detention of the two Palestinian youths Ahmad al-Joulani and Taqi al-Zugheir to next Thursday.

Earlier in the day, over 40 Israeli fanatics stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque via the Maghareba Gate under heavy police escort.

A group of Israeli settlers escorted by policewomen, on Sunday, resumed their provocative tours into annexed East Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque compound, provoking tension with Palestinian worshipers, who chanted religious slogans to protest their entry, according to witnesses.

During the entry of the settlers, Islamic Waqf personnel and worshipers at the scene prevented an extremist settler from performing rituals and Talmudic prayers at the holy Islamic site.

Last year, according to WAFA, tension ran high throughout the West Bank, including Jerusalem, against the backdrop of Israel’s repeated assaults on the mosque, including attempts to unilaterally enforce of a temporal division at the site between Muslims and Jews.

Prior to the unrest in October 2015, the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor pointed out, in a report, that Israeli incitement and violations against Arabs in Jerusalem have increased dramatically in 2015.

The report, titled “Fire under the Ashes: Provoking Muslims in Jerusalem,” warned that Israeli incitement against Muslims could trigger a conflict that would likely result in disastrous consequences.

“Among the provocative acts documented by Euro-Med researchers against Palestinians in Jerusalem were performance of Talmudic prayers near Muslim worshippers, beating, throwing rubbish, cursing, death threats and preventing worshippers from reaching the mosque,” the report said.